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PRECIOUS STONES.
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831
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LAPIS LAZULI.
CALIFORNIA.
A company has been formed in Los Angeles, Cal.; under the name of the Lapis Lazuli Mining Companya to
operate a deposit of lapis lazuli in the Death Valley region of San
Bernardino County. Mrs. Margaret Robertson, president of the company,
states that the mineral has been thoroughly tested and pronounced
lapis lazuli. So far only surface material has been obtained while
assessment work was being done on the claim. Development work is to be
started in the fall.
MOONSTONE.
VIRGINIA.
Specimens
of rough moonstone were received from Henry Mackay, Hewlett, Va., where
they were obtained from a mica mine. This moonstone is a variety of
orthoclase feldspar and occurs in pockets in veinlets of partly
kaolinized feldspar in a decomposed mica gneiss formation. The pockets
range from the size of an egg to that of a cocoanut. Gems cut from'
this material display a certain amount of the chatoyancy of moonstone,
but not so strongly as in the Ceylon gem. The particular pieces
examined were slightly yellowish and not the pure white of good
moonstone. It is possible that a better grade will be found in this
locality.
CEYLON.
James Parsons,6
principal mineral surveyor of Ceylon, reported the discovery of a new
deposit of moonstone in the village of Weragoda, in the southern
province. Some of the moonstones are of the fine blue variety. They are
found in white kaolin, under about A\ feet of black mud, in a
swampy region. It is probable the moonstone is derived from leptynite
(acidic granulite), as in the Kandy district of Ceylon, whence the bulk
of the world's supply of moonstone is obtained.
OPAL.
NEVADA.
L.
F. Denio, of Denio, Oreg., reports the discovery of opal in Humboldt
County, about 20 miles south of the Oregon state line and 40 miles east
of the California state line. The opal has been found over an area 7
miles long by 1 mile wide. Two groups of claims, about 5 miles apart,
have been located on the best prospects. The character of the opal is
different in these two groups, one furnishing a brilliant black stone,
the other blue, green, and red opals. Much petrified wood occurs in the
region, with which good opal is sometimes found in seams or attached to
the outside of the petrified wood. The regular supply of opal is in a
decomposed porphyry of brownish red color. Basaltic rock outcrops
nearby. Only limited prospecting work has been clone so far.
a Los Angeles Alining Eeview, May 1, 1909. & Ceylon Administration Bept., pt. 4, 1907.
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